Exmouth to Perth
Exmouth,
Ho Hum…. We arrived in Exmouth for a couple of days
and could not get over how the town has changed in 5 years. The development which includes waterways and
canals being built is huge with waterfront blocks selling from $320,000 a
block. While there we went fishing off
the harbour rocks not managing to catch much, even though schools of whiting
were cruising up and down during our fishing time. It was spawning time and the fish are not as
hungry during this time so only 2 fish for dinner. After 2 days in Exmouth is was time to move
to our favourite spot in this part of the world, Cape Range National Park which is approximately
45kms out of Exmouth.
Cape Range, Join The Queue…. On checking
with CALM they advised that no bookings can be made and you must drive to the
entrance gate and wait to see which camp ground has vacancy. This meant an early morning start, with some
keen travelers lining up from 6.30 am.
The ranger gives out the vacancies at 8.00 am. We arrived just before 8.00 am and, believe
it or not only third in the queue. We
were lucky enough to obtain a site at Pilgramunna camp ground. This turned out to be one of the best sites
in the park and we were grateful to the Ranger for recommending such a
delightful spot. We found out later why
there were so few people queueing, and this applies to a lot of situations on
the weekends. All the West Coast Eagles
fans stay put to watch the football.
A Little Touch Of Paradise…. The host couple,
John and Shirley (both in their seventies) have been camp hosts for 6 years and
spend 6 months of the year welcoming people and making sure everything runs
smoothly. Pilgramunna is a small camping
area of nine sites right on the Indian Ocean. From our 
caravan site we could sit and watch the waves break
over the outer reef about 1 km off shore.
The area is not in the restricted zone which meant that we could swim,
snorkel and fish.
Happy hour was at 5.00pm and everyone would
gather, sometimes a bit earlier than 5.00pm.
It was a great way of getting to know each other. The people were a friendly bunch and we all
got on so well. We were only looking at
staying three nights but it was such a beautiful spot to be, that we extended
and ended up staying 6 nights. There
were a few keen fishermen amongst the group and those with boats would invite
you out to fish which was great fun. Rob
and I were invited out by Rob and Marie from Perth.
We would go out close to the reef, throw the lines in with just a hook
and a piece of squid on the end and in no time we would be reeling in a
fish. What a way to fish. There was always plenty of fish for everyone. The nights we were there, we got together
with Rob and Marie and tried different fish recipes and the best spaghetti 
bolognese you could imagine cooked by Marie.
A must visit in the national park is Turquoise Bay
(right). This is a zoned area, as it is
part of the sanctuary of the Ningaloo Reef.
The waters are the most beautiful colour blue and the reefs are just of
the shore. With snorkels and goggles you
could swim out to the reef and see an amazing collection of coral and colourful
fish. A drifting current would take you from
one end of the beach to the other and then you would walk back up to the start
of the drift and do it all again.
Our days were spent fishing, snorkeling,
walking the beaches and just a whole lot of relaxation once again. It was hard for 
anyone to leave this little haven with most people
extending 
on for more time but we had to say goodbye to everyone
and start heading towards Coral
Bay . It is definitely a place we would love to go
back to. On the way out of Cape Range NP
we took the opportunity to call into MG Kailis, the large prawn fishing company
who sell prawns at wholesale prices direct to the public. Three kilograms of prawns into the fridge and
a few gourmet meals to look forward too.
Coral Bay, Luck Is With Us…. We took the
chance that we would get a caravan site in Peoples Caravan Park at Coral Bay,
but on arrival we were told that there were no powered sites, but only
unpowered sites, and were advised that we had better look at them before making
a decision. We couldn’t believe
our eyes when the site was right in 
the corner of the park opposite the beach with a
fantastic view on beautiful green grass and not sand or red dust. We were only staying originally for two
nights but extended for four nights. At
high tide the water was only 25 meters from our caravan site as you can see in
the photo on the left. Coral Bay
is a small beachside town and everything is owned by three families. There are coral viewing boats, snorkeling,
catamarans, fishing hire boats and just about everything is covered.
You
Can’t Win Them All…. Our first night we spent watching StKilda
play Fremantle on the big screen at the Coral Bay
Pub. We sat amongst all these “one
eyed” Fremantle supporters with only three other people (I would say non
West Australians) barracking for St Kilda.
Even Rob was barracking for the Saints, but unfortunately St Kilda was
just beaten, after losing three of our best players to injury and Fremantle
kicking the winning goal on the siren.
Back On The Water….. We booked a snorkeling all day cruise for the
next day and went out sailing on this 40 ft catamaran. The boat was immaculate and we sailed down
the coast for the day, stopping in three different locations for
snorkeling. It was a perfect day with a
light breeze which is unusual for the W.A. coast at this 
time of year.
It meant that the water was 
crystal clear and really good for snorkeling. We saw turtles, rays, reef sharks and so many
different species of colourful fish plus all the different corals. A cooked fish and salad lunch was
supplied. As it was Saturday and the
West Coast Eagles were playing Geelong,
it meant that there were only seven of us doing the trip – all
backpackers who are really interesting to talk to plus the two of us. On the
way back to Coral
Bay the backpackers took
the opportunity to boomnet(centre) out the back of the boat whilst Rob took all
the compulsory photographs for everyone.
It was a magic day.
Feeding The Fish…. On arrival back to shore it was fish feeding
time. Each day at 3.30 PM the CALM
ranger comes down and lets everyone feed the giant snapper. At any one time you will have 50 or 60 of
these fish being fed by people 
standing just in the water along the shore line. Advice from the ranger is to bury your toes
in the sand as the snapper will not hesitate to turn them into a meal. These fish are smart. They know exactly where the sanctuary zone
is on the beach and stay well within it so they do not get caught by the
recreational fishermen. If you go down
to this area during the day to snorkel before the fish feeding these snapper
come right up to you expecting a feed and will hover around coming up very
close to your goggles. An amazing
experience.
It is sad however that this picturesque spot
on the WA coast is going to be spoilt by a bloody useless WA State Government
bent on over development of these pristine regions. They are very short sighted.
A Tough Life…. On our third day at Coral Bay this was what
we were presented 
with: 22oC at 9:00 AM, not a cloud in the
sky, a very light breeze rippling over the water creating glittering diamonds
with the reflection on the water and a high tide only 25 meters from our
caravan door. Breakfast under the awning
watching the people go down to swim and snorkel in the pristine water of Coral Bay. What a rare and privileged experience.
Sunset was another surprise as a result of the cloud out to sea which
created an amazing display of natures ability to change on a regular basis
(left).
Time
To Move…. Sadly we had to move on continuing our
journey further south with our next stop being Quobba and the blow holes, about
75 km North of Canarvon. Again we
intended to bush camp rather than opt for a caravan park. We decided to check Point Quobba camping
area. We found a secluded spot,
protected from the on shore winds and set up for the night (right). The camping area was scattered with old
fishing shanties that would have been there for many years. Some campers were set up overlooking the
beach, but a bit too windy for us. We
visited our honorary hosts who live in a caravan and annex for eight months of
the year. We were invited into their
home and paid our $5.50 for the night, and left after a long chat.
Another
Spectacular Show…. The contrast in the weather could not have
been greater than Coral
Bay and what it presented
to us was the most spectacular display of the ocean at it’s wildest. Travelling along this coast line from Point
Quobba to Quobba Station was an amazing experience with the waves crashing up
to 20 meters into the air giving the impression of fast moving clouds (left).
We returned to the blow holes on three separate occasions during our stay both
at high and
low tide and were presented with a stunning show of
the power of the waves with water spraying high into the air and creating
rainbows in the spray(right).
The wildflowers were starting to come out so
a walk in the sand dunes was a must to see the variety of flowers. Apparently, due to the good winter rains, the
wildflowers are at least a month early and we have been told, the best for a
decade so we are looking forward to seeing them along our travels. It was then onto Canarvon, quite a short
trip, but with a very strong head wind, we decided to have an overnight stop
before leaving fairly early for Kalbarri.
The wildflowers from Canarvon to Kalbarri were just beautiful. We were on the main highway and everywhere
you looked there were wildflowers. There
were carpets of wildflowers and the colours were in pinks, whites, yellows,
blues and purples. There were so many everlasting daisies,
grevilleas, hakeas, daisies, wattles, banksias etc. It was just a great trip to Kalbarri.
What
Has Liz Been Enjoying???? Kalbarri is
a very popular holiday destination on the W.A. coast. We had been there in 2000 and had spent time
exploring the area then. This time it
was a quick overnight stop so we moved on the next day to Port Gregory for
coffee. Along the way we took time out for some sightseeing and could not
resist a couple of photos at Red Bluff lookout.
It was a stop in Geraldton for petrol and onto Dongara/Port Denison for lunch. As Perth was in our sights, we decided to
continue on through Jurien Bay and to Cervantes for the night. Unfortunately as we have been moving south
since Coral Bay, the weather has been getting cooler and we are now in polartecs
at night and along with Rob, the “old red hot water bottle” has
made an appearance in the bed at night.
Southward
Bound….. Our final overnight stop before Perth was to be
Cervantes. A very nice little holiday
and cray fishing village about 250km north of Perth.
Our reason for stopping here was to take a trip into the Nambung National Park to see the Pinnacles. These amazing natural structures are formed
from limestone created from ancient seashells-remains of another epoch rich
marine life. Over millions of years
natural weathering has removed surrounding material to result in limestone
needles jutting out from the sand. The
pinnacles cover several hectares and there is a track to drive around them with
several parking spots and lookouts to take in this most unusual natural
phenomenon.
We’ve
Hit The Big Smoke…. After sightseeing around Cervantes we
continued our journey south with a pleasant lunch stop at Gingin. A quaint, beautifully presented small town
with park right in the town centre. It
was then on to Perth,
the first time in 4 months that we have been in a capital city.
Our base in Perth for 4 days is the
Karrinyup Waters Resort about 12 km from the centre of Perth.
The highlight of this section of our
trip. The Western
Australia coast line is just a beautiful part of Australia with
amazing variation from tranquil bays to rugged cliffs with wild seas so to pick
out a highlight is difficult. Most
probably our highlight would be Cape Range National Park, partly because of the
pristine coastline and access to the coral reefs and partly because of the
friendly people we met during our stay at Pilgrimunna Camp in Cape Range
NP. Staying at Cape Range
is a must do if you are travelling the west coast.